Adjustable terminal supporting interconnector



Feb. 20, 1951 H. R. HARRISON 2,542,669

' ADJUSTABLE TERMINAL SUPPORTING INTERCONNECTOR Filed Aug. 28, 1948 lnven'torz Howard RHarr ison, b His Abborney.

Patented Feb. 20, 1951 ADJUSTABLE TERMINAL SUPPORTING INTERCONNECTQRHoward R. Harrison, General Electric New York Havertown, Pa., assignorto Company, a corporation of Application August 28, 1948, Serial No.46,603

1 Claim. 1

The invention relates to electrical connectors, particularly adjustableconnectors suitable for use in high voltage power systems as a supportfor interconnecting bus terminals with misaligned terminals of switchesor the like or in another similar service.

One object is. to provide an improved form of adjustable postureterminal interconnector that is capable of more universal applicationininterconnecting various sized bus terminals with the terminals ofswitches or the like that are spaced from the bus terminals at varyingelevat ons.

Another object is to provide an adjustable postureterminalinterconnector that also is' capable of mechanically supportingone of'the interconnected terminals in variably spaced misalignment withthe other, thus eliminating the necessity for an insulating support forthe supported terminal.

Another object is to provide limited relative movement between the fixedsupporting terminal and the supported terminal while maintaining anefiective supporting connection therebetween so as to eliminatedifiiculties due to expansion and contraction of the bus under differenttemperature conditions.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description of the accompanying drawing in which Fig.1 is a side view of the improved adjustable posture terminalinterconnector applied to interconnect a bus terminal with a relativelyfixed grounding switch terminal; Fig. 2 is a top view on an enlargedscale of the improved adjustable posture terminal interconnector shownin Fig. 1 with some of the parts broken away more clearly to reveal thestructural details; and Fig. 3 is a side view of the adjustable postureterminal interconnector shown in Fig. 2 indicating by the dotted linesthe relatively wide range of adjustment thereof.

As shown in Fig. 1, the improved adjustable posture terminalinterconnector indicated generally by the reference character HJ isapplied to interconnect the terminal pad I I that is clamped to the endof the bus |2 with the misaligned but relatively fixed terminal pad l3of the bus grounding switch 4. which may be of any suitableconstruction. As shown in the enlarged top view of Fig. 2, theinterconnector I is provided with a pair of channel-shaped terminalcontact members I8 and IQ for attachment respectively to the switchterminal pad l3 and the bus terminal pad I I by means of suitableholding bolts 20. The contact member I8 is provided with a, pair ofprovided witha pair of integral spaced-apart arms 25 so that one end ofthe H-shap'ed interconnecting link 26 may be adjustably secured to eachof the arms 25 by means of the clamping bolts 2']. The link 26 is madein the form of an H so as to be provided with a pair of spacedapart sidearms 28 interconnected by the transverse web 29 that serves to space theside arms 28 apart sufliciently to nest the arms 2| of the terminalcontact member l8 therebetween at one end of the link and to nest thearms 25 of the other terminal contact member I9 therebetween at theother end of the link. In order to firmly anchor the side arms 28 of thelink 26 to the nested arms 250i the terminal contact member I9, thetoothed spacer washers 3| are interposed therebetween so as to firmlygrip the adjacent sides of the nested arms when the bolts 21 aretightened to fix the posture of link 26 and contact member I9. I

The opposite end of the link 26 is connected with the nested arms 2| forboth rotary and rectilinear sliding movement by means of the pin 33 thatextends snugly through holes formed in the ends of the arms 28 and isheld in position by the snap rings 34 that fit into suitable groovesformed in the ends of the pin 33. The pin 33 extends through a slot 35formed in each of the legs 2| of the terminal contact member 8. Thuswhen the link 26 is firmly secured to the terminal contact member |9 bytightening the bolts 21 to fix the posture thereof, the pin 33 serves tosupport the end of the bus I 2 to which the terminal pad II is attachedwith the pin 33 sliding in slot 35 as the bus |2 expands or contractsunder varying temperature conditions.

As indicated in Fig. 3, considerable variation in the elevation of thebus l2 with respect to the switch terminal pad |3 can be accommodatedwith the improved adjustable posture terminal supporting interconnectorof the present invention without damaging the flexible current conductor3 22 due to the fact that the link 26 always maintains the conductor 22slackened as indicated in the drawing and hence prevents undue strainsbeing exerted thereon. Thus the link 26 can be rotated about the pin 33as an axis into the position indicated by the dash lines and theterminal contact member l9 correspondingly readjusted so as to alignwith the bus terminal H in case the bus should be at a lower level thanthe switch terminal l3. If further variation in height is encountered.both the bus terminal pad H and the bus terminal contact member [9 maybe inverted from their positions in which they are shown in Fig. 3 so asthereby to accommodate further variation in the elevation of bus I2below the switch terminal pad 13. This can be accomplished simply byremoving the clamping bolts 21 and reassembling the contact terminal padIS in its inverted position. For intermediate heights of the bus l2relative to the switch terminal pad l3, theend of the bus I2 isshortened to the proper length and the terminal pad ll clamped theretoby the U bolts 36 so as to mount the terminal interconnector ID with thepin 33 substantially centrally located in the slots 35.

Thus it will be seen that the improvements of the present inventionenable not only good elec trical connection to be established betweenthe interconnected terminals at different levels but also enables theadjustable posture connector to support one of the misaligned terminalsin spaced relation with the other while at the same time providing forthe necessary relative movement therebetween due to expansion andcontraction.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

An electrical terminal interconnector comprising a pair of terminalcontact members, each provided with means for removably clamping themember to a terminal, and each having a pair of arms extendingtherefrom, a flexible current conductor extending between the membersand having the ends thereof formed to be removably clamped with thecorresponding member to the corresponding terminal, a link havingparallel side arms spaced for nesting the arms of the terminal membersbetween the opposite ends thereof, means for fixedly clamping one end ofeach of the link arms to a corresponding one of the terminal arms, andmeans including a slot and a pin sliding therein for connecting theother ends of each of the link arms for both rotary and rectilinearsliding movement with respect to the spaced-apart arms of the otherterminal contact member.

HOWARD R. HARRISON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

